The Endzone Garden Thread

[VolNExile]

Ba-dum-pish

There are plenty of native plants in the region; don’t know specifically about AVL though.

And Dr. Randy Gardner at the NCSU Mountain Horticultural Research Station about 15 miles from my house has been developing the Mountain series of tomato hybrids for our area, emphasizing growing resistant strains that incorporate heirloom flavor. They’re supposed to be releasing a new one based on Cherokee purple this year!

Mountain Series Tomatoes

 

[VolNExile]

I think we have a different name for them in Charlotte... We call them "losers"

Well, these are neighbors that visit with us as they walk their endless numbers of dogs in our neighborhood, so no. They’re like everyone, good folks, a-holes, and blends.

 

[VolNExile]

Where da weed at exie?

Not in my yard, thanks.

 

[Behr]

I think we have a different name for them in Charlotte... We call them "losers"

 

[UT_VOLS13]

NM

 

[UT_VOLS13]

Buncombe County Extension Master Gardeners fund-raising plant sale. I’ll be on Ocracoke that day oh darn, so I grew these out of guilt.

Supposedly there’s ~$500 merch in that pic.

I got a place in Yancey County. Neighbor.

 

[Souce]

Buncombe County Extension Master Gardeners fund-raising plant sale. I’ll be on Ocracoke that day oh darn, so I grew these out of guilt.

Supposedly there’s ~$500 merch in that pic.

I believe it. I spent ~$50 on 5 mater plants & 3 pepper plants this past weekend.

 

[Behr]

I've 17 pepper seedlings and have no idea what they are. Lol.

My survivors were slow to come back around, but the last couple of days they've started to take off on growth and they're really healthy looking.
The big one and the small one in front of it are Trinidad Vipers and the 2 smaller ones on the left of it are Red Carolina Reapers.

 

[VolNExile]

I got a place in Yancey County. Neighbor.

Whereabouts? That’s beautiful country!

 

[GVF]

Ba-dum-pish

There are plenty of native plants in the region; don’t know specifically about AVL though.

And Dr. Randy Gardner at the NCSU Mountain Horticultural Research Station about 15 miles from my house has been developing the Mountain series of tomato hybrids for our area, emphasizing growing resistant strains that incorporate heirloom flavor. They’re supposed to be releasing a new one based on Cherokee purple this year!

Mountain Series Tomatoes

My Step-Son works for Sakata seed. He works with tomato growers in Ashville. Mountain Fresh and Mountain Pride I'm pretty sure are their seeds. Maybe some other of those. When they get done planting he'll bring me about 400 left over mater plants. They come up here when he has to work over their and in Greenville, TN and he'll base out of our house for a couple weeks. His territory goes from there down to south FL.

 

[GVF]

My son has a thing for growing hot peppers lke I do for heirloom tomatoes. i'm curious aout most anything heirloom, or something not found in every corner garden. So, most of my garden is such.

So, he planted Tobascos, Thai Red Dragon, and Ghost peppers yesterday, and is seeding Datils. I added Jalapeno, and for sweet and milds I have Pablano, California Wonder Bells, and Cubanelle. I'll use the tobasco and jalapeno for hot pepper vinegar for soups and gumbos. I really like Hot Cherry peppers in my vinegars. Not real hot. Prob in hte jalepeno range, but the flavor it adds is fantastic. Haven't seen any in a while. He'll dehydrate the mega hots and grind them for red pepper flakes. (I failed to ask them if he had flakes on the pizza I bit into the other day. Whew!)

Waiting to transplant in the next couple weeks are:
Okra: Jing Orange, Okinawa Pink, Heavy Hitter, and Louisiana Long
Tomatoes: A Grappoli D'Inverno, Purple Reign dwarf, Mila, Terra Cotta, 1884, Costoluto Genovese, Peachy, San Marzano Redorta, Dwarf Velvet Night Cherry, Dwarf Tasmanian Chocolate, Prinicipe Borghese, and one other I can't recall.

Will also add from seed to garden this evening: "Homemade Pickles" pickle, Touchstone gold beets, and some sort of green sweet peas.

 

[VolInNorthCack]

My son has a thing for growing hot peppers lke I do for heirloom tomatoes. i'm curious aout most anything heirloom, or something not found in every corner garden. So, most of my garden is such.

So, he planted Tobascos, Thai Red Dragon, and Ghost peppers yesterday, and is seeding Datils. I added Jalapeno, and for sweet and milds I have Pablano, California Wonder Bells, and Cubanelle. I'll use the tobasco and jalapeno for hot pepper vinegar for soups and gumbos. I really like Hot Cherry peppers in my vinegars. Not real hot. Prob in hte jalepeno range, but the flavor it adds is fantastic. Haven't seen any in a while. He'll dehydrate the mega hots and grind them for red pepper flakes. (I failed to ask them if he had flakes on the pizza I bit into the other day. Whew!)

Waiting to transplant in the next couple weeks are:
Okra: Jing Orange, Okinawa Pink, Heavy Hitter, and Louisiana Long
Tomatoes: A Grappoli D'Inverno, Purple Reign dwarf, Mila, Terra Cotta, 1884, Costoluto Genovese, Peachy, San Marzano Redorta, Dwarf Velvet Night Cherry, Dwarf Tasmanian Chocolate, Prinicipe Borghese, and one other I can't recall.

Will also add from seed to garden this evening: "Homemade Pickles" pickle, Touchstone gold beets, and some sort of green sweet peas.

Need some of them Grainger County tomatoes!

 

[82_VOL_83]

Exie, we are planning our garden spot for next year. Going to begin preparing late summer. For heirloom tomatoes like Omar's Lebanese and the Julia Child, 1) can you collect seeds and 2), do you need to let one or two fruits "rot" and then collect the seeds or can you take them from a fruit that you pick to eat?

 

[VolNExile]

My Step-Son works for Sakata seed. He works with tomato growers in Ashville. Mountain Fresh and Mountain Pride I'm pretty sure are their seeds. Maybe some other of those. When they get done planting he'll bring me about 400 left over mater plants. They come up here when he has to work over their and in Greenville, TN and he'll base out of our house for a couple weeks. His territory goes from there down to south FL.

The ‘Mountain’ series is great for planting along the southern Appalachians. I see Mountain Merit in grocery stores a lot. If they can add disease resistance and save the heirloom flavor, they’ll have me for life.

 

[GVF]

Exie, we are planning our garden spot for next year. Going to begin preparing late summer. For heirloom tomatoes like Omar's Lebanese and the Julia Child, 1) can you collect seeds and 2), do you need to let one or two fruits "rot" and then collect the seeds or can you take them from a fruit that you pick to eat?

I've seen the omar lebanese on heirloomtomatoes.com. She sells the plants. That lady raves about the flavor. They are mega huge tomatoes too. I'm sure you can buy seeds somewhere as well.

Preserving tomato seeds is not too difficult, but I usually just buy more seed when I need them. Just use vine ripe tomatoes. No need to let rot on plant. You have remove the seed pulp, then put them in a bit of water to cover and let ferment. This removes that coating. Maybe a few days up to a week. Then rinse well, and dry before putting up. A bit tedious if you are wanting to keep a variety of tomato seed. Not so bad if only doing a few.

 

[GVF]

The ‘Mountain’ series is great for planting along the southern Appalachians. I see Mountain Merit in grocery stores a lot. If they can add disease resistance and save the heirloom flavor, they’ll have me for life.

I got Mountain Pride or Fresh from a mennonite garden center a couple years ago. It did pretty good. I've got a similar climate to yours here in upper middle TN. Lately I haven't had a problem with disease much at all. Maybe its the heirlooms i'm choosing. I do look for that before anything else. And I plant basil and marigold around them so the insects are minimal. I still have to watch for that big fat green worm though. they'll strip the plant leaves overnight.

 

[82_VOL_83]

I've seen the omar lebanese on heirloomtomatoes.com. She sells the plants. That lady raves about the flavor. They are mega huge tomatoes too. I'm sure you can buy seeds somewhere as well.

Preserving tomato seeds is not too difficult, but I usually just buy more seed when I need them. Just use vine ripe tomatoes. No need to let rot on plant. You have remove the seed pulp, then put them in a bit of water to cover and let ferment. This removes that coating. Maybe a few days up to a week. Then rinse well, and dry before putting up. A bit tedious if you are wanting to keep a variety of tomato seed. Not so bad if only doing a few.

Yeah, I can get the seed online. Can you freeze the seeds without damaging them?

 

[82_VOL_83]

Julia Child Organic Heirloom Tomato Seeds - TomatoFest

They have Omar's seeds plus Julia Child Seeds.

 

[VolNExile]

Exie, we are planning our garden spot for next year. Going to begin preparing late summer. For heirloom tomatoes like Omar's Lebanese and the Julia Child, 1) can you collect seeds and 2), do you need to let one or two fruits "rot" and then collect the seeds or can you take them from a fruit that you pick to eat?

I haven’t done that! But if they’re heirloom, (and not hybrid), they should grow true from seed.

This is from the “Saving Seed” tab on Black Krim, a great Russian —er, Ukrainian —heirloom tomato (Krim refers to Crimea.) It’s pretty detailed about what to do (their wall of text, not mine.) Black Krim did great for me last year, and I’m planting again this year.

Tomato, Solanum lycopersicum
Pollination, insect; Life Cycle, annual; Isolation Distance, 10-50 feet
Perfect, self-fertile flowers are individual or in clusters of 2-20 flowers, depending on the variety. Being self-fertile, only one plant is needed for seed production, but there is a possibility of cross-pollination, so obey isolation distances or bag flowers for protection. Allow fruits to ripen beyond eating stage on the vine before harvesting for seed production. Cut the tomato in half and squeeze the jelly and seed goo into a jar. Add an equal amount of water to the goo. Loosely cover the container and place in a warm location for about 3 days. Stir or swirl once a day. A layer of fungus will begin to appear on the top of the mixture after a couple of days. This fungus not only eats the gelatinous coat that surrounds each seed and prevents germination, it also produces antibiotics that help to control seed-borne diseases like bacterial spot, canker, and speck. After 3 days are up, put a few more inches of water in your jar with your fermented goo, and allow the contents to settle. Once settled you can slowly pour off the water along with the tomato pulp and immature seeds, which will float. Viable seeds are heavy and will sink to the bottom. At this point you can pour all of your seeds and water into a colander to finish cleaning. Tap seeds out onto a fine mesh screen, paper towels, or a few layers of newspaper and allow to dry for a few days before storing.

Slicing Tomato Seeds - Black Krim

I’m passing your question to our EMG listserv for experienced backyard tomato growers.

 

[GVF]

Yeah, I can get the seed online. Can you freeze the seeds without damaging them?

You can. They just need to be good and dry and sealed with minimal air. The only seed I really keep in the freezer are green bean and other bean seeds. I keep them in a jar. I've never actually kept tomato seed in freezer. I keep them in a box under the cabinet. They're good for a couple years that way. Much longer if in freezer. Cool and dry are the main requirements however you go about that.

 

[GVF]

I haven’t done that! But if they’re heirloom, (and not hybrid), they should grow true from seed.

This is from the “Saving Seed” tab on Black Krim, a great Russian —er, Ukrainian —heirloom tomato (Krim refers to Crimea.) It’s pretty detailed about what to do (their wall of text, not mine.) Black Krim did great for me last year, and I’m planting again this year.



Slicing Tomato Seeds - Black Krim

I’m passing your question to our EMG listserv for experienced backyard tomato growers.

I've never tried Black Krim, but it seems to always get really good flavor and growing reviews. I grew Cherokee Purple and it seemed to be a similar tomato so i passed on it.

 

[Behr]

Yeah, I can get the seed online. Can you freeze the seeds without damaging them?

I kept my pepper seeds in the refrigerator from last year as instructed by the place I got them from.

 

[GVF]

Julia Child Organic Heirloom Tomato Seeds - TomatoFest

They have Omar's seeds plus Julia Child Seeds.

I've never known anyone that grew Omar's. Keep us updated. I've been really curious to try it. THe descriptions say to not pick the tomato, you have to cut it in order not to break the branches. We're talking a two hand, cantelope sized tomato. I've also seen pics where some took panty hose and supported each fruit like it was in a sling.

 

[GVF]

Omar's Lebanese Organic Tomato Seeds | TomatoFest

Tomato Lycopersicon lycopersicum 'Omar's Lebanese' (davesgarden.com)

 

[VolNExile]

Omar's Lebanese Organic Tomato Seeds | TomatoFest

Tomato Lycopersicon lycopersicum 'Omar's Lebanese' (davesgarden.com)